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Month: January 2017

I’m sitting in my American Literature course earlier this morning and aside from the fact that I’m the eldest in my class, I came to the realization that American education can be summed up in two words: The Hamburger.

Everyone remembers the hamburger when they were learning how to write in grade school. The big bun, the first (or last) piece of the burger that was your introduction and conclusion paragraphs, the big juicy meat in between the buns that could be one to three patties representing your content to write about and your primary points within the article, and the add-ons that were just fillers for the essay itself, i.e, bacon, tomato, lettuce, ketchup or whatever else your teacher said you could add. Anyways, here I am sitting in my class as a 21 year almost graduated college student and a classmate sheepishly raises his voice asking “So… what should the format of this paper be? Like is it an intro and then the meat and extra dressings and then the conclusion part?”

I paused trying to comprehend what was just said.. Here I am, sitting in a course designed for independent thinking and analysis of American literature through the juxtaposition of autonomous thought and literary content. Rather, for one to understand how to write this paper, they had to put it in layman’s 3rd grade English terms of the hamburger analogy. This both proved that the way in which we are trained to learn is faulted and the best way in which to teach is to break it down into its most simplistic form and give each component structure. Writing is supposed to be an art form that follows no real order, but rather, standardized testing has made students perceive that a specific format is required in everything written. In no way am I saying that a format shouldn’t be followed, but instead, creativity and self-thought should be pushed as more important.

So in essence, it is not about the “hamburger” but rather what sandwich you want to create. Not everything can be boxed into patties or buns because sometimes people prefer wraps, or hollowed out bread, or no bread at all. Figure out your style and create your own persona through your written words.

Thanks for checking in with me. If you have any topic or event that you want written about, let me know! My goal this year is to write more provide a lasting impact on the words you all read! Love y’all, thanks again

Song of the Week: How Far I’ll Go (and yes.. this is from a Disney movie.. lol)